Large, thin glass sheets are used as substrates for liquid crystal displays. During transport from a glass manufacturing facility to a customer, the substrates are packaged either in an L-shape support or in a polypropylene box, each sheet being separated from its neighbors by having its non-quality edges held in grooves. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,588,531 and 5,904,251.
The flexibility of such substrates increases as the size of the sheet increases and/or its thickness decreases. Such an increase in flexibility, in turn, means that the sheets exhibit a higher level of flexing as a result of vibration during transport and a larger gravity sag when held horizontally. As a result, a large spacing between sheets and careful transport are required to avoid glass damage and breakage due to excess flexing (bending) and/or contact between adjacent sheets. Such a large spacing increases the costs of storing, transporting, and handling the substrates.
A need has thus existed for improved techniques for packaging flexible substrates that allow the substrates to be packed closer to each other and to exhibit less horizontal sag than with existing techniques. This need has intensified in recent years and is expected to be even more pressing in the future as glass substrates for LCD applications become larger and thinner, and thus more flexible. The present invention addresses this continuing need in the art.